Lucayan artifacts from the Bahamas

ONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE HEYE MUSEUM
NUMBER i

LUCAYAN ARTIFACTS FROM THE
BAHAMAS

By THEODOOR DE BOOY

Reprinted from the American Anthropologist (n.s.), Vol. XV, No. i.
January-March, 1913

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1913

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[Reprinted from the American Anthropologist, Vol. 15, No. 1, Jan.-March, 1913.]

LUCAYAN ARTIFACTS FROM THE BAHAMAS

By THEODOOR DE BOOY

SEVERAL noteworthy artifacts were found on the Bahama
islands during the year 191 2 by the expedition sent out by
George G. Heye, Esq., of New York City, in the interest of
the Heye Museum. This expedition was in the Bahamas from June
until December, 191 2, investigations being carried on chiefly from
a sailing vessel, through which medium the various islands were
visited. It is not the purpose of this brief article to describe the
manner in which the work was conducted, but it may be well to
state that it is practically impossible in the Bahamas to cover the
many islands and cays unless one either owns or charters a sailing
craft of some description, as the voyages of the mail schooners from
Nassau are uncertain and at intervals of from two weeks to two
months, and even then one cannot visit the uninhabited cays.

To date, practically the only wooden objects found in the
Bahamas and in the Greater Antilles are idols and the well-known
and characteristic stools (duhos or sillas), no wooden objects of a
strictly utilitarian character being in any collection from these
regions, if one excepts two bowls or platters now in the library at
Grand Turk (Turks and Caicos islands) . The writer is not inclined
to classify duhos other than as ceremonial objects, despite the many
contentions to the contrary. From the accounts of Las Casas and
Herrera, these objects were held in high esteem by the Ciboneys and
other pre-Columbian tribes, and it is hardly to be believed that the

AM. ANTH., N. S., 15— I !

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST

[N. s., 15, 1913

U

Fig. 1.

-Wooden paddle from
Mores island.

aborigines would have given so much
care to the fashioning of a piece of wood
when a burnt-out log would have served
the purpose of a seat equally well. The
few duhos in existence are made of
madeira, a species of wood related to
mahogany, hard to work and undoubt-
edly valuable to the Ciboneys, consider-
ing the few large madeira trees that are
found in the Bahamas. In fact, it is
more than likely that the duhos were
imported from the larger islands (Haiti
and Porto Rico) , as it would be difficult
to find a tree of sufficient size in the
Bahamas to permit the manufacture of
one of these stools. A few wooden cas-
sava-graters and a planting dibble have
been found in Haiti and Santo Domingo,
and while all these objects and the
many references made to them by the
early chroniclers assure us that the pre-
Columbian inhabitants were expert wood-
workers, it is to be regretted that so little
material of this kind has survived. Tak-
ing the climatic conditions into consider-
ation, however, it is not surprising that
so few artifacts of wood have survived
the ravages of time, and it would appear
safe to state that such objects as have
survived are invariably fashioned from
madeira, cedar, and lignum-vitae.

In view of the fact that so few wooden
objects are known from these regions, or
even from the Greater Antilles, a canoe-
paddle, found on Mores island, deserves
first mention. While working in the Ba-
hamas, the author visited Mores island,

debooy] LUCAYAN ARTIFACTS FROM THE BAHAMAS 3

one of the cays on the Little Bahama bank. This cay is inhabited by
about twenty negro families, who are engaged in the sponge industry.
The Mores islanders have the reputation of being the worst negroes
in the Bahamas, and their destitution is most abject, Mores island
is literally honeycombed with caves, some of which are being
regularly worked for guano, which is sold to the neighboring
islanders for fertilizer. The author visited several of these caves,
some of which had not hitherto been entered. In one of them it
was his good fortune to find the canoe-paddle referred to, a specimen
of special anthropological value as it is the only one of its kind known
to the author.

The paddle (fig. 1) is fashioned out of a single piece of
cedar, and may be described as consisting of a crosspiece, a shaft,
and a blade. The paddle is in good condition, and the workmanship
as a whole is excellent. It was found on a shelf in the cave and was
covered only by a slight deposit of guano dust. The fact that the
paddle is of cedar accounts for it not having been attacked by
wood-boring insects, and as the cave in which it was found is a dry
one, it was not subjected to decay. The crosspiece is 4^ inches
(11.5 cm.) long and \z/% inch (3.5 cm.) thick. There is a small
knob on the underside of the crosspiece, near each end, evidently
designed to afford a better hold. The shaft is 2 feet (61 cm.) long
and thickens toward the blade-end, the diameter being 15/16 inch
(2.4 cm.) at the top and 13^2 inch (3.8 cm.) at the point where the
shaft broadens into the blade. The blade has a length of 2 feet
J4 inch (62.8 cm.), is 6}/i inches (16 cm.) broad at the widest
point, whence it tapers gradually to a width of 1 34 inch (3.2 cm.)
at the extremity. The end of the blade is rounded, but whether
or not the paddle originally had a sharp point cannot be determined.
The blade is Y% inch (1.5 cm.) thick at the widest point, and Y% inch
(1.2 cm.) at the tip. The shaft merges gradually into the blade,
and four simple, angular lines are shown on each side as orna-
mentation, which also serve to let the thickness of the shaft taper
down by even steps to the thickness of the blade. The total length
of the paddle is 4 feet 2% inches (129 cm.).

In Mallery's monograph on Picture-writing of the American

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST

[N. S., 15, I913

Indians1 there is an illustration of some petroglyphs found in a
cave on Rum cay in the Bahamas and figured by Lady Blake.
In this group of petroglyphs (fig. 2) is one that appears to be an

M

l(Jl<DS^

Fig. 2. — Petroglyphs on Rum cay. (After Mallery.)

exact representation of the type of paddle found on Mores island.
Mr L. G. K. Brace, a botanist of Nassau, has visited the Rum Cay
cave and mentioned the picture of the paddle to the writer, who
had no opportunity to visit the island in order to inspect it. The

Fig. 3. — Indian paddling a canoe. (After Oviedo.)

size of these petroglyphs is not given in the memoir referred to.
An old illustration from Oviedo also figures one of the aboriginal
canoes and paddles (fig. 3), and he mentions that the canoes were

1 Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 139.

DE BOOY]

LUCAYAN ARTIFACTS FROM THE BAHAMAS

propelled by wooden oars (nahos) that were provided with a cross-
piece at one end and a blade at the other.

Another wooden artifact was added to the Heye Museum by
the gift of a duho, or wooden stool, found in a small, open cave at
Spring point on Acklins island, covered by the debris of a large slab
of limestone that had fallen from the roof of the cave. A negro
hunter had taken shelter in this cave during a rainstorm, and
observing one of the legs of the duho protruding from the debris,
recovered it and carried it to the nearest white man, a Mr Darrell,
who in turn presented it to Dr F. A. Holmes, a physician of Nassau.

Fig. 4. — Wooden duho from Acklins island.

Dr Holmes gave it to the author, who, accompanied by Mr C. V.
Spicer, a member of the expedition, visited the cave in which the
specimen had been found, but they were not successful in finding
any more material.

The duho (fig. 4) stands 534 inches (13.3 cm.) high, is 9 inches
(22.8 cm.) wide at one end and 8 inches (20.3 cm.) at the other.
Both ends are broken off near the legs, and judging from the stools
of like type in other collections, the broad end may have sloped
upward . as a back, while the narrower end probably terminated
in the representation of the head of a turtle or a human being.
The aggregate length of the seat is 9}^ inches (23.4 cm.) ; the legs

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST

[n. s., is, 1913

are 5 inches (12.6 cm.) high. Two of the legs are in good condition,
but the other two are partly destroyed. The bottom of the seat is
smooth and shows excellent workmanship ; the top is very rough and
has evidently been exposed to the weather and to the ravages of
ants and other insects. The diameter of the two perfect legs is
2 inches (5.1 cm.).

A third object of interest is a fractured ceremonial celt (fig. 5)
from Mariguana island. Although in fragmentary condition, this

object shows clearly what the orig-
inal outlines must have been, and it
may be included among the best ex-
amples of prehistoric stonework from
the Bahamas. The celt is 2^ inches
(6.4 cm.) at the widest point, and the
length of the figure is 4^ inches (11.4
cm.) from the forehead to the toes.
Judging from celts of similar form,
this specimen was originally about 7
inches (18 cm.) long. The celt is
petaloid and is made of a green, slate-
,like stone, possibly of volcanic origin.
It was found by a negro farmer in the
bush in the vicinity of the " Betsy
Bay" settlement on the west coast
of Mariguana, and was taken home
by the finder. It seems to have re-
posed in his cabin for several years,
and the "Indian baby," as the negro

Fig. 5.— Ceremonial celt from Mari- ca\\ed ft, was finally given to his in-
fant daughter as a toy, with the in-
evitable result that it was broken. With the aid of a few children
the author was successful in discovering two of the fragments in
the negro's yard. It is regretted that the remaining pieces could
not be recovered.

The figure on the celt is shown in a seated posture and is carved
in low relief. The knees and arms point inward and the hands

debooy] LUCAYAN ARTIFACTS FROM THE BAHAMAS 7

rest under the chin. The body itself is not shown. The fingers
and toes are represented by shallow grooves. The head is indicated
by a carved circle, of which, owing to the fact that the top of the
celt is missing, not more than half can be seen. However, the right
ear is still shown outside the circle. The eyes and mouth are cut
in intaglio; the nose and the right eyebrow are in low relief. It is
especially regretted that the top of the head is broken off, for it
would be interesting to ascertain whether or not a feather head-
dress of any kind had been represented. This would have served
as a valuable basis of comparison with the two or three similar
specimens known.

The Heye Museum
New York City

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